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Delighting in the mini world of the Holiday Train Show By Isabel Angell iangell@riverdalepress.com
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he Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden has delighted visitors for 23 years, and this time around, the NYBG is boasting a show that’s “bigger and better than ever.” I had never been to the show before, but I was excited. I have loved miniature things like dollhouses and dioramas since I was very small. I even used to make little “fairy houses” out of twigs and leaves and pebbles in my backyard, so this wonderland was just my kind of exhibit. The Holiday Train Show puts my young forays into architectural miniatures to shame. The name emphasizes the model vehicles, a great draw for youngsters and train enthusiasts. (Note to those enthusiasts: the trains are on the “G scale,” the largest model train size.) But what drew my attention were the buildings, replicas of iconic New York structures made almost completely from organic materials. There are the usual suspects: a Statue of Liberty made from overlaid palm fronds, a towering Brooklyn Bridge that looks like it was made from a Linkin Logs set, a gorgeous New York Public Library complete with little wooden lions. The Empire State Building stands about six feet tall next to the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center in a compressed Midtown Manhattan. All these large buildings were fun to see made out of barks and twigs, but I was particularly captivated by the smaller, more detailed structures. Take the model of the William K. Vanderbilt Mansion, originally built in 1883 and demolished in 1926. The roof is
made of multicolored leaves arranged like shingles, and there is a wonderful round tower topped with successively smaller pinecones. Star anise seeds and crosssections of cinnamon sticks offer decorative touches, and — my favorite part — little gargoyles fashioned out of seed pods guard the gables. I could not get enough of the creativity that Applied Imagination, the studio behind the exhibit, displayed in putting the miniatures together. Twirly vines became porches, walnut shells became small windows, rough bark became stone. I loved seeing Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim building made out of large fungi and John F. Kennedy Airport’s old TWA terminal composed of huge leaves. Besides the old mansions, I enjoyed how the show captures the history of New York. Here is the original Penn Station, tragically demolished in 1964, recreated in all its splendor with columns made from branches, acorn caps topping gates and individual scales from a pine cone for small architectural details. The old Yankee Stadium also comes alive again, with bark seats and a scoreboard made of twigs. There are even tiny floodlights (not made from organic materials) and a recording of an announcer calling a game. Be sure to spot the two nods to Riverdale in the exhibit: the Wave Hill House and the Memorial Bell Tower. The Holiday Train Show opens to the public on Saturday, Nov. 21. Time-stamped tickets are available at the NYBG, but due to the show’s popularity, visitors are encouraged to buy tickets in advance online. Tickets range from $10 to $25, and the show runs through Jan. 18, 2016.
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